


Love, Firelight, and Warmth

by SilverInk



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Asexual Luke Skywalker, Asexuality, Bonding, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Self-Discovery, Sibling Love, minor Hanleia but it's not the focus of the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-09 23:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverInk/pseuds/SilverInk
Summary: Written for the AroAce Luke fic drive! Post-ROTJ, Luke and Leia have a quiet bonding moment; Leia helps Luke figure out that he's ace.





	Love, Firelight, and Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt from an anon on Tumblr: _Some times after they find out the whole sibling thing, Luke and Leia are having a quiet bonding moment, and talk about personal things from their childhood. They also talk about Han, and how he is super hot, and Luke goes like “Yeah, I never understood how you can say that about people, maybe you can explain?”, and Leia is like “Say, could it be that you’re ace?”, and Luke goes “Oh, that makes sense, thanks.” Or something along these lines._
> 
> Beta'd by my lovely friend Kate, with help from my sister Kira <3 Thanks guys!!!

Leia couldn’t believe it.

It was over. The Empire had been defeated; everything she and countless men and women, fellow Rebels, had worked for had been accomplished, and Leia only wished the people they’d lost along the way could be here to see it.

She was relieved, of course she was, but she wondered what she would do now. Leading the Rebellion had become her entire life, and with that gone, she was worried her life would start to feel empty. She took a deep breath. This was the beginning of an entirely new chapter of her life, one that she hoped she could spend with Han and Luke, and she was eager to see where it would take her.

All of this was because of Luke. _Her brother_. He wouldn’t have been able to do it without Han and Leia, it’s true, but it was Luke who’d learned to use the mysterious powers he had, and Luke who’d faced Darth Vader and defeated him by returning him to the power of the Light and goodness.

Leia looked around. Han sat beside her near the fire, his arm around her shoulders, and Chewie was on his other side. C-3PO and R2-D2 were on the opposite side, surrounded by Ewoks, but she didn’t see Luke anywhere.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Han asked, giving her arm a squeeze.

“Where’s Luke? I haven’t seen him for a while.” She quickly dismissed her initial urge to bristle at the pet name; she knew Han was being sincere, that this was how he showed her he cared for her.

“Oh. I saw him go over that way a little bit ago,” Han gestured vaguely to his right. “Why?”

“Just want to make sure he’s alright.”

He nodded in understanding, his face growing concerned, and Leia stood and started in the direction Han had indicated.

It didn’t take long to find him, and when she did, Luke was looking out toward the forest, his back curled inward and his hands tight on the railing. Though she didn’t know how, she could tell something was wrong; his energy felt off. Maybe it was part of being twins. Leia approached him cautiously. 

“Luke, what is it?” she asked gently. “What’s wrong?” As she came to stand next to him, she put a hand on his shoulder, and Luke turned to her at the sound of her voice. His eyes were shining in the firelight.

“I came so close, Leia,” he said quietly, his voice practically a whisper. “I was so close to failing and going to the Dark, and I almost gave up.”

Leia put her hand over his on the rough wooden railing and squeezed gently. “You didn’t, Luke. You brought Darth Vader back to the Light. You saved the galaxy, almost singlehandedly, and you were so brave.” He smiled at that, shaking his head and looking down. “I mean, Han and I helped a little, but…” She grinned at him, shrugging. “I know I never would’ve been able to put that much trust in Vader’s goodness. I’m proud of you, and the important thing is that you succeeded. The Emperor didn’t win this time, you did.”

“Thank you,” he said, taking a deep breath. Leia squeezed his hand again and bumped her shoulder against his. Behind them, Leia heard the steady beating of the drums, and a loud cheer, followed by trailing laughter.

“So speaking of Han,” he changed the subject after a moment, grinning again, “how are the two of you doing? Did he finally tell you how in love with you he is?”

“He did,” Leia giggled, “and he actually thought the two of us were together. He was so jealous of you, you should’ve seen it!”

Luke laughed, blushing and ducking his head, doubtless embarrassed at remembering the times they’d kissed before figuring out that they were twins.

“I told him we’re twins, and that he’s way too hot to have had much competition anyway.” 

There was a pause and then Luke said, “People are always saying someone else is hot, and honestly I don’t really know what it means. I’m kinda afraid to ask at this point.” He laughed a little nervously.

“Really?” Leia asked, a little incredulously, doing her best not to seem judgmental. Laughing again, Luke covered his face with his hands.

“Yes really, Leia!”

“Ok, ok, that’s fine,” she laughed a little too. “Well ok, you have to have noticed how unbelievably attractive he is, and the sexy unbuttoned shirt and _those pants_ he wears, he just oozes that appeal, you know? And that cocky little smirk he always has…” Leia realized she was starting to ramble and looked over at Luke, who still looked confused. 

“…I mean he’s definitely good looking, but I’ve never thought about his unbuttoned shirts and his pants.”

Leia thought back to a conversation very much like this that she’d had several years ago now, on Alderaan, with a close friend from her childhood. Her friend, Clarissa, hadn’t known what ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’ meant either and had looked just as confused as Luke did when Leia talked about how good low-cut shirts and tight pants looked. That started to become a fairly significant part of her identity, and she eventually found a group of others like her, using the term “asexual” to describe herself and these other people. Leia thought it might just fit her brother perfectly. She felt a pang of sadness, wishing Clarissa could be here to meet him; they were similar in many ways, and Leia was sure they would’ve become very close.

The air around them became eerily quiet, and then the drums broke out again a moment later as the Ewoks started another song. This one was slower, and Leia thought of Han, and how he’d tried to teach her how to slow dance once. Though it seemed silly, Leia was starting to miss him, even though he was practically right there and it had only been a few moments since she’d seen him.

“Maybe it’s a Jedi thing,” Luke suggested, interrupting her thoughts. “We’re not supposed to have partners or attachments, so maybe we just… don’t want those things to begin with? I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“Luke, do you know what the word ‘asexual’ means?”

“I’ve heard of it as a reproduction system for plants…” His eyebrows drew together & he tilted his head.

Brushing away a strand of hair that had blown into her face, Leia went on to tell him about her friend and the conversations they’d had, how readily the rest of their friends had accepted Clarissa’s self-discovery after some explanation, and how Clarissa had learned about the label and found others like her.

“That… that’s amazing, this sounds just like me! So does this mean there are a lot of other people who feel like this too?”

Leia nodded, grinning at Luke’s excitement, and without exactly knowing why, added, “I wish you could’ve met Clarissa. There’s so much you would’ve had in common.”

Smiling a little sadly, Luke said, “I would’ve loved to meet her. She really sounds great, especially to hear you talk about her with so much respect.” Leia nodded, and there was a pause, the only sounds the wind in the trees and singing from the camp fire.

“Do you feel like going back now? Han was starting to get worried about you.”

“Oh, was he?” Luke’s eyes were concerned. Then he nodded. “Yeah, we can go back. I’m fine now.”

Leia squeezed his arm again, and then they walked back to the fire together. When they sat down, Han wrapped an arm around each of them and ruffled Luke’s hair.

“You alright, kid?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, Han.” He leaned over a little awkwardly to hug Han, then looked over at Leia and gave her a quick flash of a smile, a thank you for helping him figure things out.


End file.
